Western Mountains and High Plains

June, 2011
Regional Report

Web Finds

North American Lily Society
Once you get hooked on lilies, you can learn even more at Lilies. The website promotes interest in the genus Lilium, and has information on lily culture, lily species, how to grow from seed, propagation, and hybridization and much more.

Favorite or New Plant

Sunny Sunflowers
My garden would be incomplete without sunflowers. The sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is an annual in the Asteraceae plant family. There are sunflowers that can grow up to ten feet tall and produce large flowering heads for cut flowers, or types bred for seeds to harvest and roast for eating. In the early flowering stages, sunflowers exhibit heliotropism. At sunrise their faces turn eastward and during the course of the day, the flowers follow the sun from east to west. At night, the sunflowers return to an east-facing orientation. Sunflowers grow best in full sun and well-drained soils.